It sounds a bit silly, but there is validity in the benefits of WBV. But before you rush out and drop a few thousand dollars on one or demand that your health club get one, I'll straighten out why this type of fitness modality may have some use and how you can do it without needing access to expensive equipment.

If you've ever carried a pet carrier with an annoyed cat or dog, or picked up a child that was putting up a fight, you have likely experienced some of the same sensations. When your body is shaken unpredictably, sensory organs and nerves in your muscles and tendons constantly relay information to the brain. In response, your brain sends signals to your joints and muscles about how to stay balanced and controlled.

In this sense, WBV equipment provides a terrific method of improving joint stability, balance, and core strength. Your brain doesn't want you to fall so it makes all the hardware in your body better at doing its job of keeping you balanced.

The problem is that as soon as any piece of equipment is shown to benefit one area of fitness, you start to see claims of it doing anything and everything in other areas of fitness. WBV will not result in fat loss, weight loss, or toning. It will make you better at balance and joint stability - period.

The more important question is, do you need to use one of these devices? Can you still get the benefits of WBV - or reactive training - without access to this equipment. You can either take a job on a construction crew using a jackhammer all day, or you can incorporate reactive training exercises into your workout plan. For reactive exercises, you'll need a partner, but they can also be done almost anywhere, anytime.

In the next section of the newsletter, I demonstrate a great reactive exercise called the Tail Wag. It is part of my new fitness program, Family Fit Plan.

Whether it is on a vibrating plate, from using a jackhammer, or through reactive exercises, your body will better learn to control and dynamically stabilize itself from this type of stimulus.

Very soon, fitness will become easier. I will soon be releasing a new workout program that will literally destroy every obstacle anyone has to exercising. Family Fit Plan is designed to bring families closer through fitness. Everyone needs fitness, but modern living places often excessive demands on you that strain your schedule. Family Fit Plan is a solution to this problem.

You do not need a lot of time, equipment, or a lot of space to get fit with Family Fit Plan. All you need is gravity and your family.

If you haven't already, go to www.familyfitplan.com and enter your e-mail address to get our free "Seven Secrets of Family Fitness" to get started living more fit with your family right away. Then get your copy of the program when it is released. (Scheduled Release Date: Oct. 10, 2006)

Click here to see video of the Tail Wag exercise from Family Fit Plan

This recipe is a chance to load up vitamins, minerals and the antioxidants contained in dark chocolate. But be sure to use only high-quality dark chocolate; milk chocolate contains butterfat and way too much sugar to be considered a healthy choice for anything but occasional consumption.

4 servings

• 2 cups plain non-fat yogurt
• Sections from 1 large navel orange
• 1 small piece (about 1 ounce) semisweet dark chocolate

Divide yogurt into four small bowls. Add orange sections. Grate some chocolate over each bowl and serve.